Skyline
by No one and Nobody
Summary: For a second he thought he had it, but the wind brushed past his fingertips soon enough. For years he had waited for the day she would come back to him. Could this be it? RxR


**Skyline**

**by... me. :D Hope you like it. (Oh, and I do NOT own FMA. If I did- well, there'd be some changes.) **

* * *

Roy reached for the sky, his palms outstretched.

When a strong gust of wind passed by, he clamped his hands into fists abruptly, trying to catch the breeze.

For a second he thought he had it- but the air brushed past his hands soon enough.

_Slipping through his fingers. _

He sighed as he tried heavily to distract himself with his surroundings.  
He soaked up the fresh, green grass- and the sky. The sky- the clear, warm infinity overhead.

Atop this small hill, there was more sky than land.

Atop this small hill, there was more possibility than reality.

He stared into that abyss, seeing nothing but bright blue and soft-white.

A face flashes into his memory.

He closes his eyes.

He sees her then, as if the day they had parted had never come.

He tilts his head towards the clouds, eyes still closed.  
He feels a drop of rain fall onto his face and slide down his cheek.

No, wait.

It was just a tear.

* * *

When Roy opens his eyes, he is engulfed once more in the endless mixture of white and blue.

The sun shone brightly, blinding him. He squinted against the light, raising an arm to shield himself.

And from that blinding light, he could make out a vague silhouette coming into form. The silhouette morphed into a picture- an image of a beautiful woman with long, cornflower-yellow hair. She wore a subtle, knowing smile, and calculating eyes as sharp as a hawk's.

He choked in a healthy share of air. "R-Riza?" he asked in disbelief.

She reached out to him, extending her hand.

He reached out to her, trembling- palms connecting, fingers intertwining.

She smiled at him.

He closed his eyes shut, and took a deep breath or two- afraid that his mind was playing tricks on him again.

When he was finally brave enough to open his eyes, she laughed softly and squeezed his hand.

Another tear slides down his face, and then another... until he loses count.

Here. She was here. She was really here.

"I've been waiting for you." he whispers breathlessly.  
She smiles again. "I know."  
His heart longs for her. He tugs on her hand and pulls her into him, embracing her. It doesn't take long before he loses himself completely. How long has it been since he last held his wife?

He wanted to soak up the image of her again, so he took a step back, admiring her in full. He could feel the biggest grin on his face. He was beaming.

His eyes lit up with an enthusiasm he had thought to have long since forgotten. "What do you want to do today?" he asked her, curling his fingers around hers. "We can do anything- anything you want. You name it."

Riza released one of her hands from his hold and used it to run her fingers through his hair. "Roy..." she began, unable to finish. Her eyes were a mixture of pleasant gratitude and gentle sorrow.

"No." he said firmly, his eyes steadily locked on hers."No guilt for now. Just- I know!" he exclaimed, and his eyes were alight once again. "The kids. Of course, we should go see them first thing. They'd be thrilled to see you." he was bursting with excitement. He tugged on her hand again, dragging her away from that little spot atop that little hill.

"Roy." She pleaded. "I-I can't." her voice shook. Her voice never shook. He should have taken it as a warning sign.

"Yes, you can! You're here..." he turned to face her properly and held her face in his trembling hands, gazing at her for all she was worth. "You're really here." he whispered. "You're back, and everything's alright now. Everything's alright..."

"No, Roy. I can't." He should have been afraid, but all he could think was that he had sorely, sorely missed the firm edge in her voice. "I can't. I left. I left... how can they-?"

"They love you!" he interjected. His eyes were weary, but the most sincere of smiles was plastered across his face. "You are their mother. They loved you then, they love you now and they will always love you."

"But I left!" she protested uncharacteristically. She tried to bury her face in her hands, but they were shaking too violently. "I left-!"  
"They understand why you left!" he grabbed her hands and pressed his lips against them, sending shivers down his spine even as he did so. "We understand."  
He had managed to calm her, but there were tears in her eyes. "Lisa doesn't even know me." she whispered.  
"But she met you." he smiled, pulling her along. "How can she forget the way you smiled at her on the very first day she came to us?"

A small smile tugged on her lips, but her eyes were sad. She shook her head gently. "Can we do something else?"

* * *

They sat on the grass, side by side.

"_This_ is what you want to do?" he asked her flatly. "I don't see you in ten years, and _this_ is what you want to do?"  
He could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "What did you think I wanted to do?" She saw him tilt his head and grin at her impishly from the corner of her eyes.

He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Hah. You already have three daughters to look after, in case you've forgotten." she snapped.  
"But no sons!" he teased, the corners of his mouth turned upwards as she swatted him away.  
"What more could you want than this?" she stretched her arms sideward and gestured to the wide expanse around them; soft, knee-length grass the brightest of greens swaying softly in the wind, racing outward endlessly. And indeed, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

But he looked to his left, and there she was- smiling even lovelier than he remembered. She was here, next to him. And too call that beautiful would be a crime.

Because like every other word he'd ever used to describe her, it wasn't nearly enough.

He felt around for her hand amidst the patches of grass and grasped onto it. "What more could I want?" he echoed in a daze.

She smiled at him. "Tell me about the girls." she said, and he happily complied.

First there was Arabella, who had grown into a beautiful young woman of nineteen. The last time Riza had seen her, she had short, messy hair like a boy's.  
It had suited her personality back then. Now, her raven-black hair was long, and her youthful spark shone most in her eyes- her mother's eyes.  
She was a skilled and clever alchemist now. The brave little girl from before had grown into someone strong, courageous and passionate- an independent, fiery force of nature.

Then there was Juliet, seventeen years of age, whose beauty was as romantic as her name. Her hair was soft and strikingly blonde, and her eyes were a dramatic shade of charcoal-black, with matching eyelashes- long and dark. Her charming smile had sent many a young man's heart asunder. If Arabella's beauty was that of a captivating heroine, Juliet's beauty was the kind you attempted to capture in portraits and paintings. But her looks were well-used and deceiving- underneath that pretty face was someone remarkably clever and sharp. Her eyes were quick and calculating. They observed every detail and analyzed every fine line perfectly.

Lastly, there was Lisa- still tenderly young at thirteen. She needn't age a day for Roy to guess what she would look like.  
Lisa was the splitting image of her mother. The same eyes, the same hair, the same mannerisms and expressions.

And it had pained him at times to watch her. How could he ever forget his wife when it seemed like the essence of her had remained and found its place in their youngest child?

But then he realized he didn't want to forget his wife and all the wonderful things that she was to him. To be that much like her was more of a blessing than it was a curse. It meant that she would grow up to be a fine, respectable young woman. Strong, sharp- and fiercely loyal.

So even a broken man like him could never go lonely. His three daughters, her gift to him- they were the ones protecting him, taking care of him. They made him laugh, they made him love, they kept him living. _Her gift to him._

When it seemed as though he had exhausted his stories of them, she smiled (she had been smiling all the while, but nevertheless)- and suggested that they lay on the grass together and watch the clouds drift by. Such a nonsensical whim seemed unlike her, but he willingly obliged.

They had expected to lie flat on their backs and look up at the sky, but they ended up lying down, facing each other.  
They ended up talking about everything and anything and nothing all at once.

Occasionally, he would hum out a gentle tune and every so often she would plant a kiss on his forehead and he'd remember what it felt like to have his heart swell under his chest.

Every so often, he would run his hands through her hair. And every now and then he would get a rare rumble of laughter out of her. And that tiny sound- charming and melodic, would extract the biggest smile from him; and then she would call him an egotistical moron. But he could tell she was embarrassed because of the way she would pluck a few blades of grass to avoid looking at him and then mumble a complaint about how she didn't understand why she loved him so much.

And then, if possible, his smile would grow even wider and he would stroke her cheek tenderly with the pad of his thumb. And then he would tell her he didn't understand it either, but he sure as hell was a lucky guy.

And then she would pluck flowers out of the grass because he'd embarrassed her again, and once she placed a daisy in his hand, and he in turn, kissed her in gratitude as if she had just given him the key to the city.

Finally, while she was humming a particularly mellow tune- soft, sweet and lulling, he felt his eyelids become heavy.

He had not had that good a sleep in a long while.

When he opened his eyes, she was no longer at his side.

* * *

Alarmed, he sat up ram-rod straight. Had it all been a dream? _Oh God, please don't tell me it was all a dream. _He thought to himself desperately.

He cursed under his breath and fell backwards onto the ground in anger.

Lying down, he reached for the sky again. When his fists unclenched to outstretch his palms, the daisy he was clutching tightly from before fell onto him.

He sat up slowly, almost uncomprehendingly... and buried his face in his hands.

* * *

The bright-blue abyss from that morning was now a hazy pinkish-orange. The uplifting wash of wind from earlier had mellowed down to a soft breeze, barely moving the grass underneath his feet.

He grasped onto the bouquet of roses in his hand tightly, almost desperately. He glanced at the setting sun one last time before getting on his knees and gently laying the flowers down on the earth, underneath the willow tree.

He got to his feet, making sure not to disrupt anything.

His eyes settled on the carefully selected arrangement of roses.  
Behind the flowers sat a slab of stone, on which was written ten long years ago;

Elizabeth Hawkeye Mustang

Loyal wife, mother and soldier.

_Brief and concise._ He mused over the similarity to her person. There was nothing flowery like _in loving memory _added to the description.  
There weren't even any dates. The latter was his own doing, though. Her old tombstone had both birth and death engraved onto it, but his heart ached each time he was reminded of the difference between the two years- of how young she had been. They replaced the old tombstone with a new one; brief, concise and dateless.

He laid the daisy from earlier beside the bouquet of roses before turning on his heel and heading home.

* * *

**A/N- Hi there, I know I haven't uploaded anything in a while and I'm sorry ;A; I've been really busy. This was something I fiddled with some time ago though**, **and what with the manga finally ending... well, I was motivated to wrap this up and share it with y'all. I hope it came out alright? It's somewhat different from my usual style of storyline, but also somewhat the same... haha, well anyway PRETTY PLEASE review if you like it. And also if you didn't, so I can improve on this style. Thanks for reading!**


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